Category

This slideshow features historic photographs of several of the churches of Fargo, accompanied by recent photographs, which allow for side-by-side comparison. The recent photographs were taken by Scott Becklund in 2012. Mr. Becklund attempted to recreate the original location and angle of the archival photographs. Most of the churches retain some of their original character, while some have been demolished. 1. Elim Lu

Like other religious groups, Lutherans populated the landscape in large numbers, which brought about the need for a communal place of worship. Members established a church in which they aptly named First Lutheran Church, located in the area of 400 Roberts Street. The church was built with an open porch and there were several wooden homes built next to this church. As with most of the other early religious structure

First, this picture of the First Methodist Church indicates that it was built in a dense growth of older trees. This would indicate that it was taken close to water and not deep into the prairie. Therefore, there was no retreat for the early settlers of Fargo if faced with outside threats. Next, the windows are exposed and remarkably made of stained glass. Not only were the new settlers resilient, but they showed

When Episcopal Bishop William D. Walker was appointed, he chose Fargo as his See City and Gethsemane Church became Gethsemane Cathedral. In 1893, the church was located on the southeastern corner of Second Avenue and Ninth Street South and had 175 members. The Rev. F.B. Nash Jr. was the rector. The building was the only wooden Episcopal cathedral in the United States.[1]Gethsemane Heather Brinkman, Digital History

The Unitarian Church was organized in February of 1890. It was located on the corner of Ninth Street South and Second Avenue. This photo was taken in 1899 and Richmond Fisk, D.D. was the minster at the time.[1]Unitarian Church Heather Brinkman, Digital History 2012 [1] Caron, John. “Fargo, N.D., History Exhibition, Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU.” Fargo, N.D., History Exhibition, Institute for Regional Studies

Rev. W.F. Ulery came to Fargo in 1885 to start a Lutheran church whose services were done in English as all of the services offered in the area where in the people’s native tongues. He persuaded the Southern Railway Depot to allow him to use their building to teach Sunday School. During his two years of teaching Sunday school he raised the $2,000 needed to build a church proper on a three lots on the corner o

On December 14, 1877 25 charter members met in the home of G. Johnson to organize this church and came up with the name Pontoppidan Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. The name was changed in 1878 to the First Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fargo and changed again only a month later to Pontoppidan Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church. The foundation of the church was laid in August

On April 25, 1885 the Plymouth Congregational Church was organized by Revered William Ewing. The congregation had 10-12 original members, but by 1893 it had grown to 50 members with Reverend A.H. Tebbets as its pastor. Reverend O.C. Clark built the first church on Ninth Ave North near Tenth Street, but the building was moved to the west side of Broadway between 8th ave and 9th ave in 1884. That building was blown

The church was established in 1879. A second church was dedicated on October 23, 1881 with the following scripture,”For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth;to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”Zion_01 Heather Brinkman, Digital History 2012

A group of Norwegian immigrants settled in the Fargo-Moorhead area in 1871. Many of them were living in tents located in the river town district. The first service for this group was held on October 4, 1872 by Rev. Niels T. Ylvisaker in a Moorhead home. The congregation named itself Moorhead Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation at that time and built their first church in 1874. They were forced to sell the

The First Scandinavian Church was founded in 1883. It held its services in Norwegian. The Swedish population left the church because of the language used for services and formed their own church on August 1, 1891: the Swedish Baptist Church. The members of the Swedish church were A.J. Solestrom and his wife, Nels Johnson and his wife, Mrs. Anderson and her two children, Charles Wiklund and his wife, Lars Loren, A

First Baptist Church was organized on January 27, 1879 by 26 people who were meeting at Chapin’s Gall on NP Avenue. Their first pastor was a supply pastor, Rev. George Vosburgh, who only stayed for a few months. The church was incorporated on July 20, 1881 and a new building started in the summer of 1881.[1] Many involved in the divorce rush during the early 1890’s found a home at the church because of

When Bishop Shanley first came to North Dakota, the Catholic diocese was based in Jamestown. Shanley found Jamestown quite problematic to operate out of due its poor location in respect to travel throughout the diocese, a problem that could be solved by moving to Fargo. In addition to the transportation issues, Shanley also saw better potential for growth in Fargo, which resulted in the move to Fargo in 1891. He w

Search

The Fargo History Project

This project began as part of a Fall 2012 Digital History class at NDSU. With the goal of exploring Fargo’s history between 1871 and 1897, students visited libraries and archives to search for clues to the city’s history. Future classes will conduct further research and add to the site.

Do you know some interesting tidbits about Fargo’s history? Share them with us by posting a comment or sending an email. We welcome your participation as we explore our past.